How To Find an Underwear Bomb

How To Find an Underwear Bomb

How To Find an Underwear Bomb

According to a photo posted by ABC News, the bomb allegedly smuggled on board Northwest Flight 253 last week was
a packet of powder sewn into the bomber's underwear
. Note the packet's location: right in the crotch, where a TSA pat-down is least likely to catch you.

How do you find a nonmetallic bomb tucked into such a private place? By looking right through the bomber's clothing with a naked-body scanner. Check out the
Washington Post's
analysis
of the available technologies for spotting a bomb like this one. The far-right column, "whole-body imaging," looks like our best shot.

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Human Nature explained the naked scanners
two years ago
and
again this year
. In this year's piece, I worried about the TSA abusing the scanners. Flight 253 is a reminder that we face bigger threats than the TSA.

Will Saletan writes about politics, science, technology, and other stuff for Slate. He’s the author of Bearing Right.